Red Flag
by Paranoidgirl
Summary: Even the smallest incidents can be foreboding of worse things to come.... Tim Scam centered.


Note: It's a bit of a prequel, and takes place when Tim used to work for W.O.O.H.P.  
Rating: It's basically for all ages, but it contains some moments which could be considered mildly disturbing.

**Red Flag**

Tim Scam, one of W.O.O.H.P.'s more promising scientists. Young, charming, and with a genius I.Q. to boot, Jerry didn't take long to say 'yes' when the man applied for a job.  
However, only months after the initial hiring, cracks started to appear, and people who worked close to Tim began to feel uneasy around the man, mainly because of his disregard for people's feelings. Jerry just waved it off.  
"So the boy is a bit anti-social. Nothing to get so worried about." He said, dismissing the complaints with a wave of his hand. It wasn't until a certain incident that he started to take these warnings seriously, and would change the way he saw Tim Scam.

Lunchtime at the W.O.O.H.P. laboratories. This meant that most of the scientists were off to the cafeteria a few floors below. Most, that is.  
"Ah." Tim Scam said, sighing contently as he looked around the abandoned laboratory, and opened up a small brown package. "Finally." With that, he extracted the bag's contents; a hamburger and a small bag of ketchup. He took the hamburger and wanted to open the ketchup to spread it on, when he heard the rattling of metal bars. Annoyed, he turned towards the source of the sound: the cage of Squeaky, a white mouse. Not to experiment on (W.O.O.H.P. had a policy against that.), but rather as some sort of pet, or mascot. Tim wanted to just scold the little mouse, but the cage was open, and little Squeaky was nowhere to be see. "Oh, you've got to be..." Tim started angrily, until the sound of squeaking, but even worse, _eating_ could be heard. "No!" He said, hastily turning around to see Squeaky, eating away at his hamburger. "You little...!" Tim started, vein bulging. But his demeanor changed when he looked aside at the table, and saw a scalpel laying there. He sniggered, a sadistic glimmer appearing in his eyes as he took the scalpel and slowly approached Squeaky. Once above the eating mouse, Tim Scam raised the scalpel above his head, before relentlessly jamming it downward.  
This movement was rewarded with a splatter of red, staining his face and clothes, and for a moment, Tim grinned victoriously. This changed however, as he saw that the only thing he skewered was his package of ketchup, Squeaky sitting next to it, obviously scared out of it's rodent mind, but unharmed. This only resulted in more anger towards little Squeaky. "I was going to eat that!" Tim shouted at the little creature, before stabbing and missing him again, as Squeaky decided to run. "Get back here, you little rodent!" Tim shouted, running after the little creature, who jumped off the table, onto a chair and then onto the ground, as an angry Tim Scam chased him across the lab, replacing the scalpel with his feet, as he stomped away at the mouse. Finally, after fifteen minutes, Squeaky cornered himself, as Tim loomed over him with that sadistic grin.  
"Now I got you, you little rat." Tim said, raising his foot up in the air, ready to squash the little nuisance.  
"Tim? Tim!" Someone called, as Tim's colleagues entered. Tim didn't have another choice then to place his foot down carefully, and let Squeaky run towards the other group of scientists. "What's going on here?" One of the female scientists asked. Tim rubbed the back of his neck.  
"Squeaky... got out of his cage." He explained. The female scientist just scooped up the little mouse and shrugged, before placing Squeaky back in his cage.  
"You've got some red on you." Another scientist commented, seeing the ketchup stains on Tim's clothes and face. Tim just wiped it off. He took one last glance at Squeaky, who, to his delight, cowered under his merciless gaze, before going back to work and forgetting the incident, thinking no one would ever find out.

Someone actually found out tough, as security footage recorded every moment of the hunt.  
"So it's true..." Jerry murmured, before pressing a button, contacting W.O.O.H.P.'s security department. "Keep an extra eye open considering Tim Scam." He told the security officers. "Make sure he doesn't get another chance to harm mice... or men."

**End**


End file.
